Hybrid Events

If the pandemic has taught us one thing, it’s that we don’t all have to be in the same place to do something.

But the flipside of that is the detachment people feel when on ANOTHER Zoom, Teams call or webinar – impersonal, unfriendly and time-consuming.

Hybrid events take place partly in-person and part virtually, allowing remote attendees to still join in with the main activities. With examples ranging between business conferences, music festivals and virtual reality, they utilise video conference technology to keep larger audiences engaged, whether they’re able to share a location or not. Although a relatively new concept, they are increasing in demand, as a recent Eventbrite survey revealed that more than half of 3,000 respondents (53%) from the UK, USA and Australia said they plan to attend both virtual and in-person experiences in the future.

As event marketers, we have more options to deploy than ever before – and a wealth of new skills to help us deploy them. However, we’ve also got the challenge of pulling these different event possibilities together into a coherent plan. We’ve always known that events can build excitement, strengthen relationships and start high-quality conversations. Now we know that they can reach far wider audiences and build awareness in ways we never imagined. There’s an exciting future ahead, but first we have to decide how hybrid events can best play each of these roles. When is it best to deliver virtual events – and when is it best to find a way to gather in-person?

With a hybrid event you can create all of the upsides of a ‘real’ event or product launch – for people that can’t make it. No travel. No parking issues. No queues. Just lots of interesting and relevant information, right in front of you – wherever you are.

It’s much more relaxed than a Zoom call too – people are all there for the same reason – to discover new products and innovations, network with colleagues and customers and ‘share’ the experience. You’ll find you get much better participation and recall too. And a smaller carbon footprint.

So let ec create a hybrid event for you – and see real results.

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